Chad The Beast Hardy - The Acacia Tree of BJJ

Today on the show I have the pleasure of chatting with 25 years old, Chad The Beast Hardy. Chad is probably best known for occasionally appearing on the very popular Chewjitsu YouTube channel. Chad actually earned his Black Belt under Nick Chewy Albin himself and was assistant head instructor at Derby City MMA in Louisville, KY. Chad is now a head instructor at Guardian Mixed Martial Arts in Murfreesboro, TN

This is a young man at an exciting inflection point in his life, newly engaged with a great job and creating great products with so much runway in front of him and the wind at his back.

In contrast to the present, in the episode, you will hear me allude to much of Chad's earlier years being comprised of so much sadness and tragedy. Let me give you some context, Chad is originally from Bloomington, IN, and before the age of 5 his mother passed away, soon after, his father was shot in the head and fell into a coma for over a year, for that duration he was cared for by his grandmother. After that year his father came out of the coma and moved them away from the gang plagued area they lived in, to another crime and violence-filled area of Louisville, KY. On his first day at the new school, in the new town, Chad was punched in the face for no reason, he was robbed twice in one month, witnessed a shooting directly in front of his apartment, was regularly assaulted for simply trying to come home from school, his drug-addicted aunt would attempt to steal from them, and at age 15 he lost his beloved grandfather and uncle, all of this resulted in Chad one day ingesting a bottle of pills, only to awake in a hospital from a failed suicide attempt, surrounded by those he loved and that loved him and fortunately for all, this is where the story does not end, but rather begins.

There are trees that remain strong and durable and even thrive in the most hostile conditions. In a study, scientists found that the acacia tree in the Arava desert in Israel is the world’s largest tree growing in such a hot and dry climate. The tree has an even higher growth rate during the hot, rain-free desert summers than during the slightly wetter winters, and scientists continue to research into its remarkable resilience and how it might provide valuable information to us.